Chocolate Hearts
by Twinado
Summary: Lucy really does need to be more careful with what is acceptable as a Valentine's day gift.


I may have missed the deadline, woops, but here's a valentine's day NaLu story.

Lucy let out an exasperated sigh as she leaned against the front door to her apartment. Today's mission had been simple enough, but she had somehow managed to so completely lose track of time with Natsu and Happy on the way back, that she now found that it was already getting dark. She huffed indignantly as her eyes scanned her spotless kitchen. She still had time right? All she needed to do was melt some chocolate into moulds and stick them in the fridge. There was no way she needed as much time as she had scheduled, she would be fine.

Slowly she made her way to the island, grabbing a bowl and spoon on the way. At least a little bit of chocolate for all the guys in the guild, that was all she had to make, all she had to prepare. She groaned as she felt the chocolate bars dissolve under her fingers.

_That's why you leave them in the fridge_

She chastised herself, knowing full well that it didn't really make too much difference to her over all plans, but would likely result in a greater mess than she had anticipated. Carefully she squeezed the purée chocolate into a large mixing bowl and got to work. Mixing and heating, that's all it really was. It was the least intense physical activity that Lucy had performed in weeks and she couldn't help but despise the tedium of it. Perhaps she had become to accustomed to Fairy Tail's antics, not that she really minded. She really had changed a lot since she entered the guild.

The thought made her smile happily, Fairy Tail was her home and all of these chocolates would show them just how thankful she was to be a part of the family. The thought made her stop suddenly as she poured the melted chocolate into the moulds. What should she make for Natsu? After all he was the one whom brought her to the guild in the first place, her closest friend and her partner, it didn't seem right to give him the same old generic, 'Lucy Heartfilia' chocolate. No, he deserved that extra bit of effort from her, not that she wouldn't have given him all the extras anyway. She smiled to herself as she began to work on a new mould, just the thought of the dragon slayer brought a smile to her face, she really ought to show him that.

Lucy stared down at her handy work happily. While she had made simple blocks of chocolates with a small heart on top for everyone else, she now had an extra giant heart-shaped mould just for Natsu. Slowly she filled it up making sure the top was completely level. Wiping her brow she inspected her handy work. A giant heart-shaped piece of chocolate for Natsu, wouldn't he be pleased.

That's when it dawned on her. You don't give your friend a giant heart-shaped piece of chocolate on Valentine' day, that's reserved for lovers. Panic suddenly set in. She couldn't give Natsu this what would he think... What would everyone else think? Instantly her face lit up, a blistering red furnace that would put Natsu to shame. How could she be so careless? Without a second thought she dumped the contents of the mould back into her mixing bowl and, while quickly checking nobody was watching, threw the now lonely looking heart into the bin.

Good riddance.

Now she was back to square one and the evening was already starting to press into night. She grumbled to herself as she quickly set to work making a new mould, one that didn't have any implications.

Her final product was a perfectly crafted dragon, complete with talons, wings and even a plume of fire. It was, as far as she was concerned, a masterpiece. She quickly filled the mould up and went to set it down in the fridge next to the others. As she placed it down her hand faltered. This chocolate may very well be less conspicuous than a giant heart, but it was so significantly better than the others that it wouldn't take a genius to imply that it was more than just a friendship chocolate, as she intended. This time Lucy physically let out a scream of anguish and returned the chocolate to the mixing bowl and binned the mould in one swift action.

Back to the drawing board.

Lucy sat and twiddled her thumbs. What could she possibly make that didn't stand out? After all she wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong impression, the chocolate for Natsu was definitely only in a best friend to best friend type of way. She settled on making three moulds, one for Natsu, one for Happy and one for Gray. If she made a special chocolate for each member of her team nobody would be able to determine the difference. It was a perfect plan, baring the fact that three moulds would likely take her into the earlier hours of the morning. Lucy hummed quietly to herself as she crafter her moulds. She better get something incredible on White Day for all the effort she was putting in.

By the time she was finished Valentine's day had begun. Her eyelids felt heavy as she pushed the fridge door closed. They were perfect, everyone would be so happy in the morning. She barely even acknowledged the mess as she turned to begin her nightly routine, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The sun was high in the sky by the time Lucy's eyes crept open again the next morning. It wasn't as though she'd overslept though, in fact she really had all the time in the world. It wasn't as if she actually planned on spending Valentine's day with any one in particular. She was simply going to the guild as per every other day. It no longer seemed to bother her that her love life was non-existent. She chalked it down to the fact that she was consistently kept on her toes, especially considering she spend most of her time with Natsu and Happy.

Once she was ready she skipped to her fridge and packed the chocolates into separate bags. Making sure to double check that there was spare in case she forgot anyone. She smiled as she withdrew the final three chocolates from the fridge. A fish shaped chocolate for Happy, a snowman for Gray and a rather large looking flame for Natsu. Lucy stared at the chocolates again. It was no mistake that all three of these specially crafted chocolates were of greater quality that the others. So why did Natsu's still stand out.

The answer was obvious when she compared the chocolates side by side. The flame was at least twice the size of the fish and the snowman combined. How her sleep-addled mind had managed to do that she had no idea. Huffing in annoyance Lucy snapped the chocolate in two creating a sizeable gift chocolate that didn't indicate any ulterior motive or feelings. There would be no teasing her today, no wrongly trying to tie the knot between the dragon slayer and herself.

Satisfied that nobody could insinuate anything Lucy rushed to the guild, barely able to carry the mountain of chocolate she had decided to craft.

On arrival Lucy wished her holiday greetings to everyone and quickly began the tedious process of handing out her gifts to the men of the guild. She received the obligatory thanks from everyone. It appeared that the mood in Fairy Tail was ecstatic. She supposed that this must be what is meant by 'love is in the air'. She slipped Gray his chocolates slyly, trying to avoid being spotted by Juvia whom had apparently crafted an entire 6 foot chocolate sculpture for the ice mage. Much to his displeasure.

Happy could be found sulking at the bar. Apparently not receiving chocolates from Carla was literally a sign of the apocalypse for the exceed. Lucy felt bad for the little guy. It must be awful to harbour unacquainted feelings towards someone. Something she, herself, had never experienced. After all she had never been in love... Nor denial.

Natsu on the other hand was much more difficult to locate.

Lucy really didn't want to ask but, the thought of all her hard work going to waste, forced her hand.

"Cana, have you seen Natsu?" Lucy asked, approaching the card mage whom was currently drinking from her trade mark booze barrel.

Cana's reply came as more of a snort than an actual answer.

"Got something special to give him?"

Lucy didn't like Cana's tone one bit. It was exactly what she was trying to avoid. Why was it that whenever she asked for or about Natsu the girls took it upon themselves to tease her? It wasn't as though it was a new thing, but it had certainly escalated over the time.

"Look I've told you before I'm not in love with Natsu."

"Who said anything about love?" Cana asked with a smirk that told Lucy she had completely fallen into the older girls trap. The blush that spread over Lucy's face was undeniable.

"J-J-Just tell me where he is." Lucy grumbled out, somehow she managing to attract the attention of Mirajana and Levy whom, were both grinning at her in the same infuriating way that Cana was.

"Let's see what you got him." Cana exclaimed, grabbing the bag labelled Natsu from Lucy's hands. "Hmmm... very nice, but wouldn't a heart have gotten your point across better?"

Cana was almost in hysterics and Lucy felt like she was on fire, after all a heart may or may not have been made at some point.

"Actually Lucy I think fire makes more sense when trying to reach Natsu's heart." Mirajana offered with the most sincere smile that Lucy had ever seen on a traitor's features.

"IT IS NOT LIKE THAT!" Lucy yelled, why did this happen every time?

"Hmmm... actually Natsu thinks with his stomach so I guess it depends on the taste." Cana uttered taking a large bite out of the chocolate. "Mmmm... this is good Lucy, any man would instantly fall for you."

Lucy sat there open mouthed. How could she?

"CANA! That was for Natsu." Lucy whined, why did it bother her so much? It wasn't as if it was any more than plain old chocolate.

Cana simply laughed and shook her head.

"Lucy," it was Levy whom was talking now, and although she was someone Lucy was counting on, she helped herself to a mouthful of Natsu's chocolate. "Natsu isn't allowed chocolate on Valentine's day, he simply gets to out of control on all the sugar."

Lucy looked at her friends dumbfounded. It made sense sure, but she'd put a lot of effort into that chocolate.

"But... but I spend so much time making that..."

The girls laughed shaking their heads knowingly at the blonde. They watched as the girl snatched up the bag and ran out the guild, more than likely going to apologise to a certain dragon slayer.

They really were perfect for one another. They were both as dense as rocks.


End file.
